STREM licenses new class of catalysts


Stable and easy-to-handle nickel complexes for practical application in nickel catalysis

The use of nickel as a catalyst for the formation of chemical bonds is of great importance to the chemical industry - applications range from the production of fine chemicals to the synthesis of pharmaceuticals, insecticides and pesticides. For the production of nickel complexes, industry has relied for many decades on nickel cyclooctadiene Ni(COD)2, a component discovered some 60 years ago at the MPI für Kohlenforschung. Ni(COD)2 has since then proven to be a useful source, but requires extremely complex handling. The now licensed nickel complexes are more air and temperature stable than Ni(COD)2 and thus facilitate use in the laboratory.

Ni(COD)2 decomposes immediately in air and is very temperature sensitive. Therefore, gloveboxes with inert gas atmospheres or "Schlenk" techniques are required, which make it laborious to use and store. Researchers at the MPI für Kohlenforschung succeeded in developing a new series of Ni(0)-stilbene complexes that are stable to air and at higher temperatures than Ni(COD)2. The new family of binary 16-electron Ni(0)-stilbene complexes, developed under the leadership of Dr. Josep Cornellà of the MPI für Kohlenforschung, is stable at room temperature and in air for about one month. The properties are similar to the previously used - but unstable - nickel cyclooctadiene Ni(COD)2 in terms of ligand exchange, catalytic reactivity and kinetic profile. Handling in inert atmosphere and the use of Schlenk techniques are not required. The new complexes open up a wealth of catalytic transformations and are a simple, practical and versatile replacement for Ni(COD)2.

Max Planck Innovation, the technology transfer organization of the Max Planck Society, has now concluded the first non-exclusive licensing agreement of the novel catalysts with the US fine chemicals manufacturer STREM Chemicals, which will in future sell the substances to customers from science and research.


The interest after the MPI's first publication on the novel catalysts was immense. With STREM Chemicals we have found an established and strong partner who makes the new catalysts accessible to scientific and industrial research. We will continue to offer field-exclusive licenses for future large-scale technical applications.

Lars Cuypers
Patent and License Manager at Max Planck Innovation


More information on the scientific background can be found in the publications „An Air-Stable Binary Ni(0)-Olefin Catalyst” in the journal Nature Catalysis and „A Robust 16-Electron Ni(0)-Olefin Complex for Catalysis” in Organometallics.


About Max Planck Innovation

As the technology transfer organization of the Max Planck Society, Max Planck Innovation is the link between industry and basic research. With our interdisciplinary team, we advise and support scientists at the Max Planck Institutes in evaluating inventions, filing patents and starting businesses. We offer industry central access to the innovations of the Max Planck Institutes. We are therefore fulfilling an important task: The transfer of results from basic research into commercially and socially useful products.

Further information can be found at www.max-planck-innovation.com

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